History TabletopGame / Kult

* CannibalClan: Jackals, people bound to the Principle of a [DemonLordsAndArchDevils Death Angel]], often end up as this. Those bound to Nahemoth, embodiment of the worst parts of nature, in particuarly.

* TheCorruption: Subverted with the Children of the Night, who appear to be being corrupted into inhuman monsters, but are actually shaking off the illusion and returning back to what they ''really'' are. Played straight with Jackals, whose minds and bodies are bent to a Death Angel principle, and their less common but no less dangerous Archonic counterparts.

* HeavenVsHell: The Archons and the Death Angels are constantly struggling to gain control of the Illusion and bend it to their Principles. This was a cold war up until the Demiurge died/vanished/whatever and Astaroth quit his job. Now the war is very hot, several Principles are dead, and the illusion is starting to crack at the edges.

%%* ArtifactOfDeath
%%* AxCrazy: The Angels of Death, who serve a similar function to the Archons, but are much, much more malevolent about it.
%%* BedlamHouse: Most asylums are like that, and often the doctors and wardens there are at least as mad as the inmates.

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Most things people know are wrong, including most ethics. The true humans do not think even remotely like us, being primarily motivated by the endless pursuit of pleasure at all costs, and even those humans who are even partially aware quickly end up with goals and plans radically different from our own.

%%* CannibalClan
* CorruptChurch: Most of humanity's churches fall under the control of Chokmah or the Black Madonna.
%%* TheCorruption

* DevilButNoGod: There ''was'' a God, but he's gone missing without explanation. This leaves the Archons and their angels wracked in a devastating civil war (which, to be fair, might not be a bad thing) while leaving Asteroth and the Death Angels in a prime position to become the dominant forces in the Illusion (which absolutely ''is'' a bad thing).

%%* GoAmongMadPeople
* {{God}}: The Demiurge, more or less. The exact truth is a little more complex than that.

%%* HomicideMachines

%%* LoveTranscendsSpacetime

%%* MechanicalLifeforms: The Techrones. Actually every piece of machinery can be one, including the monitor you're looking at.

%%* OrificeInvasion
* PoliceBrutality: The Cops all work for the Archons, directly or indirectly, and are not your friends. If you're really unlucky, they work for the Death Angels.

* RealityWarpingIsNotAToy: All humans have incredible divine powers. Very few humans know this, and even few can reliably use them. This means it's very possible for people to accidentally create monsters or trap themselves in nightmares without even knowing they're doing it.

%%* SplitPersonality
%%* SpookyPhotographs
%%* TeensAreMonsters

%%* ThroughTheEyesOfMadness
%%* TomeOfEldritchLore
%%* TortureCellar
%%* TortureTechnician: Golab and many others.
%%* TownWithADarkSecret
%%* TraumaInducedAmnesia

%%* UnstoppableRage

%%* WorldHalfEmpty: If you're lucky and it's not full empty for you.

%%* AbandonedHospital and AbandonedLaboratory: Urban decay and blight are but one theme of ''Kult''.
%%* AGodAmI: Every human has the potential to be like this. And they would be ''right''.

%%* AloneWithThePsycho

%%* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Quite unavoidable for any character who has high enough mental balance or truly accepts the truth about the world.

* CosmicHorrorStory: It's difficult to judge whether this setting or the Franchise/CthulhuMythos are more horrific. On one hand, at least in ''Kult'' there's a chance (however astronomically remote) to escape, regain your divinity, and become stronger than any of the cosmic horrors. Then again, in the Cthulhu Mythos, the horrible universe is indifferent to you, while in ''Kult'', the horrible universe ''hates'' you and wants you to suffer -- and regaining your divinity also means becoming something just as terrible as the horrors currently running the show.

%%* TheDarkSide

%%* FreakOut
%%* GameFace

%%* HappyPlace: One could say that in the world of ''KULT'', most humans are there.
%%* HarbingerOfImpendingDoom

%%* HellHotel

%%* IndianBurialGround
%%* InfernalRetaliation

%%* KnightTemplar: Geburah is embodiment of this trope.

%%* MirrorScare

%%* OffOnATechnicality: Mentioned in the description of the archetype of the frustrated cop.

%%* PoliceBrutality

%%* RoomFullOfCrazy

%%* ScaryScarecrows
%%* SerialKiller
%%* SinisterSubway
%%* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: The whole game is practically glued to the cynical end.
%%* SnuffFilm

* ReligiousHorror: Of both the standard and inverted models. Satan and his demons are very much a real threat, and the risk of possession and damnation is everpresent -- [[ParanoiaFuel some sell their souls and damn themselves to eternal torture without ever realizing it]]. However, the other side isn't any better. GodIsEvil, and everything that could be considered "angelic" is part of his plan to dominate the universe forever. Heaven is a trap, endless emptiness until your soul empties, and all faiths are lies spun by the Archons to control you. Both Heaven and Hell want to gain your soul for their own sinister ends, and both hate you. Personally. You can escape this by achieving enlightenment and ascending to a higher state of being, beyond the ties of mortality... but doing so also means inherently becoming something as evil, cruel and exploitative as the beings currently ruling existence.

* ReligiousHorror: Of both the standard and inverted models. Satan and his demons are very much a real threat, and the risk of possession and damnation is everpresent- [[ParanoiaFuel some sell their souls and damn themselves to eternal torture without ever realizing it]]. However, the other side isn't any better. GodIsEvil, and everything that could be considered "angelic" is part of his plan to dominate the universe forever. Heaven is a trap, endless emptiness until your soul empties, and all faiths are lies spun by The Archons to control you. Both Heaven and Hell want to gain your soul for their own sinister ends, and both hate you. Personally.

%%* ReligiousHorror

* DevilButNoGod: There ''was'' a God, but he's gone missing without explanation. This leaves the Archons wracked in a devastating civil war (which, to be fair, [[LightIsNotGood might not be a bad thing]]) while leaving Asteroth and the Death Angels in a prime position to become the dominant forces in the Illusion (which absolutely ''is'' [[HellOnEarth a bad thing]]).

* CosmicHorrorStory: It's difficult to judge whether this setting or the Franchise/CthulhuMythos are more horrific. On one hand, at least in ''Kult'' there's a chance (however astronomically remote) to escape, regain your divinity, and become stronger than any of the cosmic horrors. Then again, in the Cthulhu Mythos, the horrible universe is indifferent to you, while in ''Kult'', the horrible universe ''hates'' you and wants you to suffer.

** ''Divinity Lost'' has the disadvantage "Object of Desire". Characters with this disadvantage have something about them that tends to ignite deep and unhealthy desires in other people that they are unable to keep in check. The Doll archetype, a character whose life has been made hell by the unwanted attentions of others and seeks to break free and take control of their own life, has the disadvantage in question by default.

%%* BlackAndGrayMorality: The conflict between the Death Angels (Black) and the Archons (''very'' dark Gray).

* HumansAreCthulhu: Humans are immortal superbeings; we are just slumbering and are unaware of our power.
* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: In a sense. While it's rather difficult to see the Demiurge/Archons as the good guys, the truth is that the divine, pre-Illusion humans were completely amoral [[HumansAreBastards bastards]] that destroyed zillions of lives and caused untold suffering to countless weaker species across the universe. Perhaps the setting's deepest, most interesting question would be "Do we ''deserve'' to Awaken?"

* OffOnATechnicality: Mentioned in the description of the archetype of the frustrated cop.

* {{Room 101}}:

%%* BodyHorror: What can happen when your mental balance plummets low enough.
* BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu: Possibly the only inversion. It seems every other eldritch horror broke its arm trapping US in the illusion, and it seems inevitable that we will eventually break out.

%%* CorruptChurch: Chokmah, The Black Madonna.

* CrapsackWorld: Even most horror settings have at least one faction who are not pure evil, even if it's just the mundane police. In ''Kult'', ALL the governments, religions, and armies of the world are puppets of the lictors or the Angels of Death, who want to keep mankind ignorant. Worse still, GodIsEvil... and this is '''not''' a world where SatanIsGood.

%%* DarkWorld: In the forms of Metropolis and Gaia, representing urban and natural landscapes respectively.

* DisposableVagrant: In the supplement ''Rumours'' the Caregiver archetype says that monsters feed on vagrants.

%%* FreakLabAccident: One possible archetype for player characters. Also a product of many of Malkuth's experiments.

%%* GeniusLoci: The Citadels of the Archons and Angels of Death are the true self of their owner.

%%* {{God}}: The Demiurge, more or less. The exact truth is a little more complex than that.
%%* GodIsDead: And the Devil is the only one who wants him back. Also, God is dying retroactively, being dead further and further back in history.
%%* GodIsEvil: Humans were immortal superbeings before the Demiurge took all our powers away and made us what we are.

%%* HeroicBSOD: One possible result of failing a terror throw.

%%* HumanoidAbomination: Lictors and Razids, and every other monster that can appear human. Also, humans themselves, when they Awaken.

%%* PowerBornOfMadness

%%* TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow

* WarIsHell: Hareb-Serap the Angel of Death and personification of meaningless battle with no winners. According to the ''Metropolis'' sourcebook, Netzach as well.

%%* WeirdnessCensor: Probably the only reason why ordinary humans can survive in this world without going mad immediately.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Malkuth's servants kidnap humans and perform wild experiments on them. She actually wants to free all humans from the Illusion.